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Overlooking vegetation loss outside forests imperils the Brazilian Cerrado and other non-forest biomes

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 8, pages 12–13 (2024)Cite this article

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The global emphasis on halting forest loss has failed to recognize the biodiversity and ecosystem services provision of non-forest biomes such as the Brazilian Cerrado. Here, we stress the urgent need to address their destruction, including at the upcoming UN Conference of the Parties (COP28), and for coordinated efforts to protect these non-forest ecosystems amid the climate crisis.

The relentless destruction of non-forest biomes not only refers to the widespread conversion of native vegetation but also to historically neglected biodiversity-rich ecosystems. The Cerrado biome (Brazilian savannah) — a global biodiversity hotspot, with over 4,800 plant and vertebrate endemic species1 — is the most active frontier of agricultural expansion in Brazil2. More than half of the original native Cerrado vegetation has already been lost and, in 2022, the Cerrado experienced the highest conversion rate in 7 years: 1.07 million hectares of natural area was converted3. Although DETER (a near-real-time deforestation-alert system for the Cerrado and Amazon, developed by the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE)) reported a 33.6% reduction in deforestation alerts in the Brazilian Amazon during the first half of 2023 (compared to 2022), the Cerrado experienced a 21% increase in deforestation and conversion alerts during the same period3. In 2022, PRODES (Brazil’s Satellite Native Vegetation Monitoring System, which is another monitoring programme run by INPE) recorded 10,681 km2 of Cerrado deforestation, which is close in size to the vegetation lost across the Amazon (despite the Cerrado being less than half the area of the Amazon); this marks a third consecutive yearly increase3. The deforestation rates in the Cerrado are higher in its northern part (a region known as ‘MATOPIBA’, for Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia), where 71% of the loss of native Cerrado vegetation in 2022 took place3 — including in lands that are exposed to climate change4 and susceptible to desertification5.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Polyanna da Conceição Bispo, Celso H. L. Silva-Junior.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, School of Environment, Education and Development, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Polyanna da Conceição Bispo

  2. Remote Sensing Applied to Tropical Environments Group, Manchester, UK

    Polyanna da Conceição Bispo, Michelle C. A. Picoli, Fábio Marcelo Breunig, Ricardo Dalagnol, Tahisa N. Kuck, Veraldo Liesenberg, Flávia de Souza Mendes, Yhasmin M. Moura, Thiago S. F. Silva, Diego P. Trevisan, Natalia C. Wiederkehr & Celso H. L. Silva-Junior

  3. WeForest, Brussels, Belgium

    Michelle C. A. Picoli

  4. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso (UNEMAT), Nova Xavantina, Brazil

    Beatriz Schwantes Marimon & Ben Hur Marimon Junior

  5. School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

    Carlos A. Peres

  6. AMAP (Botanique et Modélisation de l’Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations), CIRAD, CNRS, INRA, IRD, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France

    Imma Oliveras Menor

  7. Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Imma Oliveras Menor & Carlota Segura-Garcia

  8. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Ambientais, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso (UNEMAT), Caceres, Brazil

    Imma Oliveras Menor

  9. WWF-Brasil, Brasília, Brazil

    Daniel E. Silva

  10. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade, Ecologia e Conservação, Núcleo de Estudos Ambientais, Universidade Federal do Tocantins, Porto Nacional, Brazil

    Flávia de Figueiredo Machado

  11. A Vida no Cerrado (AVINC), Brasília, Brazil

    Flávia de Figueiredo Machado

  12. Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM), Brasília, Brazil

    Ane A. C. Alencar, Marcia N. Macedo, Julia Z. Shimbo, Barbara Zimbres & Celso H. L. Silva-Junior

  13. General Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil

    Cláudio A. de Almeida, Angélica Giarolla & Murilo Ruv Lemes

  14. National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters (CEMADEN), São José dos Campos, Brazil

    Liana O. Anderson

  15. Earth Observation and Geoinformatics Division (DIOTG), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil

    Luiz E. O. C. Aragão & Lênio Soares Galvão

  16. Departamento de Geografia, Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, Brazil

    Fábio Marcelo Breunig

  17. Department of Ecology, University of Brasília (UnB) and Brazilian Research Network on Global Climate Change - Rede Clima, Brasília, Brazil

    Mercedes Bustamante

  18. Center for Tropical Research, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Ricardo Dalagnol & Sassan Saatchi

  19. NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

    Ricardo Dalagnol & Sassan Saatchi

  20. Department of Ecology, Federal University of Goiás (UFG), Goiânia, Brazil

    José Alexandre F. Diniz-Filho, Paulo de Marco Junior & Rafael Loyola

  21. INCT in Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity Conservation, Goiânia, Brazil

    José Alexandre F. Diniz-Filho & Rafael Loyola

  22. Institute of Socioenvironmental Studies, Remote Sensing and GIS Lab, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Brazil

    Laerte G. Ferreira & Manuel E. Ferreira

  23. Agricultural Department, University of Taubaté (UNITAU), Taubaté, Brazil

    Gilberto Fisch

  24. Amazon Spatial Coordination (COEAM) from National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Belém, Brazil

    Alessandra Rodrigues Gomes

  25. Instituto de Estudos Avançados - Brazilian Airforce, São José dos Campos, Brazil

    Tahisa N. Kuck

  26. Tropical Diversity, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Caroline E. R. Lehmann

  27. School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Caroline E. R. Lehmann

  28. Department of Forest Engineering, Santa Catarina State University (UDESC), Lages, Brazil

    Veraldo Liesenberg

  29. International Institute for Sustainability (IIS), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Rafael Loyola

  30. Woodwell Climate Research Center, Falmouth, MA, USA

    Marcia N. Macedo

  31. Universidade Estadual de Goiás (UEG), Palmeiras de Goiás, Brazil

    Sabrina do Couto de Miranda

  32. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    Douglas C. Morton

  33. Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Johan A. Oldekop

  34. The Nature Conservancy, São Paulo, Brazil

    Mario B. Ramos-Neto

  35. Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Thais M. Rosan

  36. Embrapa Cerrados, Planaltina, Brazil

    Edson E. Sano

  37. Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK

    Thiago S. F. Silva

  38. Department of Environmental Sciences, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil

    Diego P. Trevisan

  39. Graduate Program in Biodiversity Conservation, Federal University of Maranhão, São Luís, Brazil

    Celso H. L. Silva-Junior

Authors
  1. Polyanna da Conceição Bispo
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  2. Michelle C. A. Picoli
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  3. Beatriz Schwantes Marimon
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  5. Carlos A. Peres
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  6. Imma Oliveras Menor
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  7. Daniel E. Silva
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  9. Ane A. C. Alencar
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  12. Luiz E. O. C. Aragão
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  13. Fábio Marcelo Breunig
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  17. Laerte G. Ferreira
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  30. Flávia de Souza Mendes
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  32. Douglas C. Morton
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  33. Yhasmin M. Moura
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  34. Johan A. Oldekop
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  35. Mario B. Ramos-Neto
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  36. Thais M. Rosan
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  37. Sassan Saatchi
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  38. Edson E. Sano
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  39. Carlota Segura-Garcia
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  40. Julia Z. Shimbo
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  41. Thiago S. F. Silva
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  42. Diego P. Trevisan
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  43. Barbara Zimbres
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  44. Natalia C. Wiederkehr
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  45. Celso H. L. Silva-Junior
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Polyanna da Conceição Bispo.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Cite this article

da Conceição Bispo, P., Picoli, M.C.A., Marimon, B.S. et al. Overlooking vegetation loss outside forests imperils the Brazilian Cerrado and other non-forest biomes. Nat Ecol Evol 8, 12–13 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02256-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02256-w

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